Art, Tech And Hemp Combines For Modern Château Living
A chic Parisian couple decamped to Le Château du Marais for their ambitious enterprise.
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In the autumn of 2020, when the whole world suddenly came to a halt, city dwellers began concocting all kinds of escape fantasies. Some imagined moving to a rural area and becoming sustainable farmers; a number nursed long-dormant artistic ambitions; still others devised plans for new tech ventures, with visions of blockchains dancing in their heads.
But one Parisian couple, Victoire de Pourtalès and Benjamin Eymère, dreamed up a project that combined all three of these scenarios, plus a few more. Their bold new venture, as Eymère explains while steering his Citroen Ami electric buggy toward their hemp field in the French countryside, is a kind of highbrow ecological amusement park: “an open-sky R&D laboratory” that links art, nature and science.
It helps that the couple’s new base of operations is Le Château du Marais, a magnificent 980-acre estate in the French countryside that’s been in de Pourtalès’s family for generations—and that gives their enterprise, 91.530 Le Marais, its name (the number is courtesy of the local zip code). De Pourtalès grew up in its extraordinary Louis XVI-era château, encircled by a moat. But for her and Eymère, the main draws of the place are the forests and fields that surround it. And although wheat has always been the area’s chief crop, hemp got the couple’s attention for its potential as a sustainable super-plant: It requires no pesticides, grows quickly and can be used to make eco-friendly alternatives to pretty much anything, from construction materials to face creams. It’s biodegradable, of course, and because the entire plant can be used in various ways, there’s almost zero waste. They harvested their first crop in September. (Like marijuana, hemp is a cannabis, but its cultivation is not restricted since it contains minimal amounts of the psychoactive compound THC.)
The couple checking on their hemp crop. Christopher Bagley
To those who knew the couple well during their previous lives at the heart of the Paris cultural scene, their new roles are only mildly surprising. Granted, they weren’t exactly farmer types: de Pourtalès cofounded VNH Gallery and was a director of David Zwirner’s Paris space until 2020, while Eymère is CEO of L’Officiel Inc., the international magazine group, and cofounder of the blended-sake brand Heavensake. But they and their two young sons have always spent weekends at the château, an hour south of the city. De Pourtalès’s father was an avid naturalist and homeopath who treated her childhood sniffles with potions made from herbs he gathered in the woods. She still likes to take invigorating dips in the moat.
Coffee and croissants for breakfast. Christopher Bagley
Whenever they’re in work mode, both de Pourtalès and Eymère tend to think big. One of their early moves was hiring Kulapat Yantrasast, the Bangkok-born, Los Angeles– and New York–based architect who’s a favourite in the art world, to devise a plan for an outdoor arena adjacent to the hemp fields. Built primarily of wood and “greencrete”—a hemp-based answer to concrete—and surrounded by a newly planted bamboo forest, with two soaring portals at the entrance, the space will host cultural and community events, and maybe the occasional fashion show, after it’s completed next year. “You can do concerts, art shows, festivals, farmers markets, anything,” says Yantrasast. A former disciple of the Japanese architect and concrete master Tadao Ando, Yantrasast is gung-ho about hemp’s promise as a green building material. “Concrete is great, but it has its limitations,” he says. “It’s not recyclable. And hempcrete is much more porous, so it’s better at absorbing heat and sounds.”
Architect Kulapat Yantrasast atop a hay bale near the outdoor arena he’s designing. Christopher Bagley
Part of what drew Yantrasast to the project was de Pourtalès and Eymère’s innovative approach to keeping the château’s history alive. Grand ancestral properties, Yantrasast points out, have a way of becoming money pits, and aristocratic families often fumble in their attempts to keep them going: “How do you sustain the glory of the past while bringing something new to it?”
The answer for de Pourtalès includes a year-round arts-and-culture program, which she sees as a natural extension of the estate’s terroir. The château has been a haven for artists and writers since the early 19th century, when memoirist Madame de la Briche hosted a well-known literary salon here and intellectuals such as François-René de Chateaubriand were frequent long-term guests. De Pourtalès’s great-grandmother, American-born heiress Anna Gould, continued the tradition after moving in in 1897 following her marriage to Count Boniface de Castellane. Today, de Pourtalès says, more and more artists are feeling a primal urge to live amid nature while using it as inspiration. Meanwhile, the Paris contemporary-art scene keeps gaining prominence worldwide, which is “great for the galleries and for the city—but sometimes we forget about the artists,” who don’t always have good spaces to create.
The château’s ballroom. Christopher Bagley
In 2019, de Pourtalès began a residency program, hosting artists in some of the estate’s outbuildings. Last year, young French painter John Fou spent two months prepping an equestrian series that he exhibited in the form of a conceptual merry-go-round, inspired by the property’s 100-odd horses, with all the canvases positioned in a circle and facing inward. In October, Belgian artist Edith Dekyndt displayed a large piece of fabric that she’d buried on site for three months, part of her ongoing explorations of the mutability of everyday objects. Later this year, alongside a creek next to the arena, construction will begin on a village of at least two dozen “artist stables”—small studio dwellings, also made of greencrete and designed by Yantrasast. They’ll be available for overnight stays to all kinds of visitors, including school groups and nature-starved weekenders, as well as artists, musicians, architects and writers hungering for what de Pourtalès describes as a “creative community.”
Artist John Fou in front of two of his paintings, inspired by the estate’s horses. Christopher Bagley
On the technological front, the couple have turned to the latest science to reimagine the old-school agrarian château model. Although the French countryside is dotted with picturesque farm plots, many outsiders don’t realise that the agricultural system here was industrialized decades ago. Eymère and de Pourtalès are looking to re-establish a more holistic, more sustainable connection between grower and land through the use of precision farming methods, which aim to increase productivity while reducing the environmental impact. A Russian company called Acron created a custom fertilizer for the hemp field’s clay-rich soil. Digital monitoring devices installed atop the portals of the arena will gather climate data that can be shared with neighbouring farms. And instead of just selling the crop at harvest time, the pair are heavily involved in developing the products that will contain their hemp, partnering with established small-scale manufacturers. In addition to the greencrete, they’re working on textiles and yarns, as well as natural oils for beauty products. A blockchain system will allow full traceability, “from the seedling all the way to the final material,” Eymère says.
“Bringing tech to the rural environment is a good business proposition, but it’s also a good artistic proposition,” he adds. “We are seeing more artists working with scientists.” The château’s inaugural art exhibit last summer, Phytocene, was the brainchild of two musicians and a biophysicist. After placing probes in the hemp field to track the intricate ways that individual plants communicate with one another, the artists turned the data into a video-and-sound piece and projected it on a giant wall in one of the estate’s stunning old granaries. At the time of writing, the couple are still planning the 2022 calendar, but already on the lineup is a dual residency by the young artists Bianca Bondi and Guillaume Bouisset, who intend to collaborate on an “alchemic installation” in the granaries involving halo-bacteria, minerals and crystals.
Phytocene, a sound-and-video work by Agoria, Nicolas Becker and Nicolas Desprat, exhibited in a former granary. Christopher Bagley
Like more and more French people their age and younger, de Pourtalès and Eymère, both 40, possess an entrepreneurial instinct that runs counter to the rigid and retrograde stereotypes that have often plagued their countrymen (particularly the ones who live in castles). Eymère has a law degree from NYU, and de Pourtalès has organized art exhibits on multiple continents; their social circle skews predominantly creative and international. “Without the foreigners, Paris is not Paris,” de Pourtalès says. “Of course, some Parisians will say that they’re very happy without foreigners, but they can’t survive without them.”
A few of the couple’s more cautious friends have asked them if they’re attempting to tackle too much. Among their latest product ideas is a hemp-based artisanal gin. De Pourtalès smiles and shrugs. “Yes, it’s ambitious,” she says of 91.530 Le Marais. “But we’re doing it little by little. It’s really a lifetime project.”
A view of the moat and gardens. Christopher Bagley
De Pourtalès and Eymère have also just renovated and moved into the château’s 18th-century carriage house, which is closer to the farm than the grand main residence (where de Pourtalès’s mother and aunt still live). They’ve stocked the place with contemporary artworks—ceramic pieces by Eric Croes, a painting by Cy Gavin, a tiled installation by Mimosa Echard—and enrolled their sons in the village school. From their garden they can hear the tractors, smell the horses and monitor any storm clouds that threaten the fields.
“I used to find it boring when farmers talked constantly about the weather,” de Pourtalès says. But after the couple planted their first round of bamboo seedlings last summer, they endured several straight days of downpours. “It just kept on raining! So of course that’s all we talked about. Then we totally understood. Farming becomes your life.”
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13/04/2024
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Don’t Ride This Wave ….*unless your name is Robinson, Slater or Moore.
The 2024 Olympic surfing comp will be held at Tahiti’s treacherous Teahupo’o. Going for gold could be deadly.
It’s day two of the 2023 Tahiti Pro Surf Competition. I’m perched on the roof of a VIP boat around 100 metres from Teahupo’o, one of the world’s most dangerous waves. American Surf icon Kelly Slater has just been swallowed by a heaving wall of turquoise water. I’m so close to the action that when he’s finally spit out from the ride, my face gets misted in ocean spray. Below me, Australian Jack Robinson, who will go on to win the event, sits on the edge of the boat performing breathing exercises ahead of his heat. Around me, a flotilla of kayaks, jetskis, surfboards, and small vessels bobs in the channel, acting as a floating stadium for fans.
For many of the competitors—and the 1,400-odd residents of the wave’s namesake village—this year’s contest is a dress rehearsal for an event with a far larger global profile in a few months’ time. While many of the world’s top athletes will travel to France in July for the 2024 Paris Olympic Games, the most talented surfers will head here, to the southwest corner of Tahiti island’s small peninsula, Tahiti Iti, to vie for gold at Teahupo’o in just the second surf competition in Olympic history.
In keeping with the limit of two surfers per gender, per nation, the Australian flag will be flown by Ethan Ewing (No. 2 in the World Surf League rankings at the time of writing) and the aforementioned Robinson (No. 5) in the men’s category, and Tyler Wright (No. 3) and Molly Picklum (No. 5) in the women’s. On this form, hopes of a homegrown medal haul are high.
Olympic officials could have chosen a site off the coast of France, such as the surf towns of Biarritz or Hossegor, but historically, Mother Nature brings more sizable waves to Tahiti at this time of year. Plus, surfing has deep cultural ties to the region. The sport originated in Polynesia and dates as far back as the 12th century; it was practiced by Polynesian royalty. Teahupo’o is also a world-class wave that challenges the mental and physical prowess of even the most experienced competitors. The high risk of surfing this spot guarantees thrills that officials anticipate will boost viewership.
Located in the gin-clear waters of the South Pacific with a background of mountains that appear to be draped in jade-green crushed velvet, Teahupo’o (pronounced TAY-a-hoo-poh-oh) is one of the sport’s most infamous swells. (Its name loosely—and cheerily—translates to “place of skulls”.) According to Memoirs of Marau Taaroa, Last Queen of Tahiti, printed in 1893, the first person to surf it was actually a woman from the island of Raiatea, in the 19th century. Not until the 1980s did anyone dare attempt it again, with the first competition hosted in the late 1990s. Former pro turned filmmaker Chris Malloy has called it “the wave that has changed surfing forever”.
In the right conditions, Teahupo’o can tower upwards of six metres. That may sound small compared to the monster-size Jaws in Maui or Nazaré in Portugal—which can climb as high as 25 metres—but it’s not the height that makes Chopes, as the wave is lovingly called, so special. It’s the weight. When surfers describe a wave as heavy, they’re referring to its combination of a thick lip (the powerful section that starts to curl over) and the amount of water surging behind it.
Like most of the surf breaks found throughout French Polynesia, Teahupo’o is a reef break, meaning the water spills over the surface of knife- sharp coral. Chopes is unique because around 50 metres beyond the reef, the ocean drops more than 15 metres. As swells come toward the shore, the transition from deep water causes them to jack up over the coral before quickly crashing down with tremendous force.
“The reef evolved perfectly in order to absorb the wave’s energy in the shortest distance possible to create this natural wonder,” surf superstar Laird Hamilton tells Robb Report. “It’s a wave that stands straight up and creates a huge barrel. It’s one of the greatest waves on Earth.” In 2000, Hamilton rewrote surfing history when he rode what has been dubbed the Millennium Wave here. Up until then, Teahupo’o was considered too perilous to attempt when it reached a certain size. Hamilton, a pioneer of tow surfing, had a jetski pull him into what is still considered one of the heaviest waves ever ridden. Surfer magazine published a memorable cover of him getting barrelled with just the words “Oh my god…” because the feat was so dangerous.
In places, the reef lurks just 50 centimetres beneath the water’s surface, and the lip can act like a liquid guillotine if it clamps down before a surfer exits the hollow tube of the wave, known as the barrel. Had Hamilton wiped out, he wouldn’t have had an escape route.
I’m an avid amateur surfer and live on Maui part-time to take advantage of Hawaii’s waves, but even on a gentle day, I wouldn’t attempt Teahupo’o. Teahupo’o village has a water-safety patrol that watches over athletes during contests. Still, a handful of surfers have lost their lives here, and many go home with serious battle wounds. In August last year, during a practice session for the Tahiti Pro, Ethan Ewing fractured two vertebrae in his back after crashing out in solid, but average, six-foot waves—an accident that arguably cost him top spot in the world rankings.
In classic gung-ho-surfer fashion, though, the Queenslander was back in the water at Teahupo’o three months later, one eye still resolutely fixed on Olympic glory. “Definitely more anxious than excited heading back to Tahiti after hitting the reef really hard last time,” he posted on his Instagram account. “Teahupo’o is still seriously intimidating, but I feel like I’ve made some steps in the right direction.”
Unless you surf, Tahiti Iti probably isn’t on your radar. Starting from the largest town of Taravao, the south-coast road ends at the village of Teahupo’o, hence its nickname, the End of the Road. The community, just 500 metres from the wave, is the antithesis of the glitz and glamour of Paris or even nearby Bora Bora. This is a slice of tropical paradise that has somehow evaded development. To reach the contest each day, I park at the end of the road, then walk over a one-lane bridge and follow a sandy path that passes local homes.
“All of your senses are heightened here,” former world surf champion C. J. Hobgood tells me when I run into him at the event. “It’s not just the wave—it’s the island. Everything looks five- dimensional. Mountains seem stacked on mountains and glow a vivid green. You turn to the right and these bluer-than-blue waves are breaking. Then a rainbow might appear in the sky. The raw beauty is overwhelming to take in when you first arrive.”
Surfers talk of feeling the mana, a Polynesian word for spiritual energy, here. Jack Robinson even referenced it after his victory in the Tahiti Pro. It may sound woo-woo, but I undoubtedly feel something when I arrive after a 90-minute drive south-west from the hotel-lined harbour of Tahiti Nui, the island’s larger, more developed area. Tahiti Iti’s empty beaches and waterfall-riddled lush interiors remind me of a quieter, more vibrant version of Hana, a little corner of Maui with just one hotel, a handful of restaurants and kilometres of untamed nature. In an era of over-tourism, this kind of purity comes with a trade-off: You won’t find five-star hotels or celebrity-chef restaurants on Tahiti Iti. In fact, it doesn’t have any hotels at all—and won’t be opening any ahead of the Games.
Locals have been adamant that Olympic infrastructure remains minimal. The proposed construction of a three-storey judging tower directly on the reef at Teahupo’o has been a major concern among residents and environmental groups. The one Olympic improvement locals welcome is a new bridge that will connect to the beach in front of Chopes.
I check into Villa Mitirapa, newly built in the rural community of Afaahiti, a 25-minute drive from Teahupo’o. Giant carved wooden doors lead to an open-air living room, a plunge pool and views of the lagoon, and every evening a chef drops by with a delicious preparation of the catch of the day. In the village of Teahupo’o, you’ll find family-owned guesthouses such as Vanira Lodge, a collection of three bungalows tucked up in Te Pari (“the cliffs” in Tahitian), as well as A Hi’o To Mou’a, a B&B run by the proprietor of hiking outfit Heeuri Explorer.
Pro surfers are typically hosted by the same local families year after year. (During the Olympics, athletes will be housed on a ship anchored in a sandy area offshore to avoid damaging the seabed.) Hobgood tells me he made visits to his “adopted Tahitian family” for nearly two decades. For the past five years, he has come to Teahupo’o to help coach reigning Olympic champ, Hawaiian Carissa Moore and now stays with her adopted family. “They take us on hikes you’d otherwise never know how to access and have rich stories about the place,” he says. “And everything they prepare for us at meals, from the passion-fruit jam to the chilli sauce, is homemade.”
The next big thing being “adopted” by a Tahitian family is hiring Raimana van Bastolaer as your guide. For a first-time visitor, Tahiti Iti can be far harder to access than other islands, which is perhaps why so few people explore the peninsula. You need a local to reveal where to go, and van Bastolaer makes you feel like an insider.
Born and raised in the capital of Papeete, he was one of the first locals to surf Chopes, and over the years, his intricate knowledge of the wave has earned him the nickname the Godfather of Teahupo’o. He was out in the channel with Hamilton the day the American had his historic ride, and John John Florence and Kelly Slater are among the surfers who stay with him when they’re in town. Van Bastolaer even did a stint as a part-time coach at Surf Ranch, Slater’s central California wave park. Thanks to his non-stop pursuit of a good time, everyone wants to be around him. Now 48, the stockily built, dauntingly athletic van Bastolaer has become the go-to guide for visitors ranging from Julia Roberts, Margot Robbie and Jason Momoa to Mark Zuckerberg and Prince Harry. “I get to yell at princes and CEOs,” he jokes. “I’m out in the water with them telling them when to pop up and paddle. And they love it.”
Tahiti’s unofficial ambassador lives and breathes surfing. Through his company, Raimana World, he takes just one or two guests at a time on private curated surf tours throughout French Polynesia’s two central archipelagoes: the Society Islands (which are home to Tahiti) and the Tuamotus; he plans to add Fiji soon. Some of his clients base themselves on their own yachts or charter one through Pelorus. The yacht specialist’s Tahiti portfolio includes the 77-metre La Datcha, which has two helipads, a submersible and a spa.
Other clients he directs to exclusive properties, such as Motu Nao Nao, a new 25-hectare private-island resort in the cerulean lagoon of Raiatea with just three enormous villas crafted from coral, wood, and shells. A roving bar bike delivers custom cocktails to guests as they explore the island, and the French chef, inspired by Asian and North African cuisine, prides himself on never repeating a dish, no matter how long guests stay.
Van Bastolaer gets only one or two clients a year experienced enough to be coached into a barrel at Teahupo’o. “Most just want to get close to the wave to feel its energy and hear it roar,” he says. “That’s enough to give you an adrenaline rush.” Locals are incredibly protective of their surf spots, and van Bastolaer stays away from popular breaks. “Out of respect, I don’t take clients out if there are more than a few people in the water. Luckily, I have access to toys that get us away from the crowds.” He island-hops by helicopter, yacht or jet boat, then transports guests to surf breaks via high-speed RIB (rigid inflatable boat) or jetski. Most days average two to three hours of surfing, and he sprinkles in other activities such as snorkeling, whale watching (July to November) and barbecues at his house.
Papara, the beautiful black-sand beach where van Bastolaer honed his skills, 45 minutes from Teahupo’o, will be turned into a fan viewing zone with jumbo screens during the Olympics. Papara is one of the most forgiving surf breaks in Tahiti, and I head here to longboard. La Plage de Maui, a simple restaurant with sandy floors, plastic chairs and lagoon vistas, becomes my daily après-surf spot. Located in West Taiarapu, 40 minutes east of Papara, with nothing but coastal road and local homes in between, this humble spot sits next to Maui Beach, one of the only white-sand beaches on the whole island. This stretch may be Tahiti Iti’s best-kept secret.
After a barefoot walk along the shore, I don’t bother to put my shoes back on before heading into the restaurant, where servers proudly sport Tahiti Pro T-shirts and posters of pros hang on the walls. At a waterfront table, I spot rainbow-hued parrotfish and Moorish idol in the glassy lagoon. I’m pretty sure I could live on a diet of local Hinano beer and poisson cru, Tahiti’s national dish of raw fish marinated in lime juice and coconut milk. My final day, I ask my waitress if she’s concerned the Olympics might overexpose this laid-back, oft-forgotten enclave. She just laughs in reply.
On the drive back to my villa, I remember what van Bastolaer told me when we were introduced a year ago: Tahiti Iti’s specialness is lost on those seeking overwater bungalows or nightlife. It’s a place you can’t know in a day. The island reveals itself to you slowly. And even when van Bastolaer is your host, he won’t give away all its secrets.
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13/04/2024
The Boldest, Most Exciting New Timepieces From Watches & Wonders 2024
Here are the highlights from the world’s biggest watch releases of the year.
Watches & Wonders, the world’s largest watch show, is in full swing in Geneva. The highly anticipated cascade of new releases is marked by confident individual brand identities — perhaps a sign that watchmakers are done scrambling through the violent collision of restricted supply and soaring demand for high end watches. All seem to be back on solid footing.
Steady confidence is a good thing. Consider Jaeger-LeCoultre offering up traditionally styled grand complications or Vacheron Constantin revamping the classic Patrimony with smaller cases and vintage-inspired radially brushed dials. Consider TAG Heuer celebrating the 55th anniversary of the square Monaco with a skeletonized flyback confidently priced at US$183,000, or Moser similarly showing off a fascinating skeletonized tourbillon in its distinctive 40 mm Streamliner at US$86,900. IWC has leaned hard into their traditionally styled Portugieser line, including an astounding Eternal Calendar complication. We find the storied French houses of Cartier, Chanel and Hermes blurring the lines between jewelry and watchmaking with the technical prowess and artistic whimsy that originally earned these brands their exalted place in the hearts and minds of sophisticated aesthetes. Confidence abounds in 2024.
We could go on and on with examples, but the watches below will demonstrate that for 2024 the big watch brands dared to be themselves, which appears to have given them the confidence to take some seriously compelling horological risks. We have separate coverage of off-show releases and, of course, Patek and Rolex, so keep and eye out for those.
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A. Lange Söhne Datograph Perpetual Tourbillon Honeygold Lumen
Having set benchmarks in horological statecraft and finishing techniques, A. Lange & Söhne proceeded in 2010 to take the concept of illuminating the dial to the next level by introducing Lumen. It has since applied the concept to only five models, all complications, and all made in limited editions, the last one being the Zeitwerk Honeygold in 2021. The new Datograph Perpetual Tourbillon Honeygold Lumen is the sixth in the Lumen series, and only the second in Honeygold, the brand’s proprietary gold alloy (four of the six models have been platinum). Lumen works by light-powered technology. The dial plate is made of a sapphire crystal that is tinted just enough to allow light to pass through and pre-energize the readings, which are coated in a luminous pigment. A special coating on the crystal filters out most of the visible light, but not the part of the UV spectrum that is needed to charge the luminous compound with enough light energy to keep them glowing uniformly in the dark. The luminous compound is applied to the disks of the day, date, month and chronograph subdials, and together those coatings are so intense that the glow is strong enough to cast light onto the minute and tachymeter scales as well. The disks of the date window are also completely coated, and a fun sideshow is that you can see the disks move at midnight because they appear in shadow behind the sapphire. The hour, minute and seconds hands are also treated with a luminous compound, and in a final flourish, so are the stars and moon in the sky of the moon phase disk.
This is one of Lange’s most prestigious complications, combining a tourbillon escapement with a hacking seconds, flyback chronograph with jumping minute counter and perpetual calendar with big date. It contains the manually wound caliber L952.4, decorated on every surface, with black polish, polished gold chatons, blued screws, engraved balance cock and Glashütte stripes. This movment was introduced in 2016. The Lumen version is limited to 50 pieces.
Case Size: 41.5 mm x 14.6 mm
Case Material: 18k Honeygold
Power Reserve: 50 hours
Strap: Dark brown alligator
Price: price upon request
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A. Lange Söhne Datograph Up Down
It has been 25 years since A. Lange & Söhne introduced its celebrated premium chronograph, the Datograph, and to mark the occasion the German firm is offering 125 lucky people a chance to own a model in 18k white gold with a first-ever blue dial. The original Datograph movement, the L951.1, has served as the basis for the brand’s current catalog of 13 models with a chronograph function. It’s a column-wheel chrono with a flyback function, a jumping hand totalizing 30 minutes on the 3 o’clock subdial, and the typical Lange big date at 12 o’clock. The Datograph Up/Down, launched in 2012 with the caliber L951.6, increased the power reserve from 36 to 60 hours.
“Up/Down” refers to the unique power reserve indicator at 6 o’clock. It indicates the fully wound AUF (up) status and AB (down) status of the movement, at which point the hand will pivot to the red section, indicating it’s time to wind the watch. If you can’t get your hands on one of the 125 pieces of this blue Datograph Up Down, it’s good to know the model is still available in a platinum and pink-gold with black dials.
Case Size: 41 mm x 13.1 mm
Case Material: 18k white gold
Power Reserve: 60 hours
Strap: Blue alligator
Price: 125 numbered pieces, price upon request
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Cartier Tortue Privé Time-Only and Chronograph
For the 8th annual edition of its Cartier Privé collection—an ultra-exclusive-line dedicated to the reintroduction of archival heroes—the house has introduced new Tortue models. First introduced at the house in 1912, it was originally referred to as the “tortue à pattes” (tortoise on paws) for its curvy case and lugs. It was revisited decades later in Cartier’s CPCP collection—also a tribute line to past treasured releases that ran roughly from 1998 to 2008. Now the manufacture is bringing back this curvy model in a series of five iterations, two of which are monopusher chronographs.
There are some subtle updates to distinguish the new models from their ancestors, however. The time-only editions have a slimmer profile, are lighter. The monopusher chronograph was first introduced in 1928 and later reintroduced in 1998. Today it still has the blued-steel apple-shaped hands, a hollowed central seconds hand, and it also features rhodium-platred roman numerals and beveled springs and bridges. These are true connoisseur pieces for the rare Cartier savants.
Case Material: Yellow gold or platinum
Case Size: 41.4 mm by 32.9 mm by 7.2 mm for time-only; 43.7 by 34.8 mm by 10.2 mm for chronograph
Movement: Mechanical winding 430 MC for time-only; mechanical winding 1928 MC
Price: Yellow gold, US$31,000; Platinum, US$35,600; Platinum with diamonds, US$59,000, limited to 50; Chronograph in Platinum, US$59,000, limited to 200; Chronograph in yellow gold, US$51,000, limited to 200
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Cartier Santos
Everyone’s favorite Parisian jeweler has prepared an embarrassment of Santos de Cartier references for this year’s edition of Watches & Wonders. First up is the new Dual Time, a Large-sized model (40.2mm) in steel on either a matching bracelet or an anthracite-colored alligator leather strap with the maison’s QuickSwitch interchangeable system and folding buckle. The Santos de Cartier, with its origins as an early-20th century pilot’s watch — (albeit an extremely dressy one, by today’s standards) — is made even more utilitarian and toolish by the addition of a combination 12-hour dial/day-night indicator above 6 o’clock that indicates a second time zone, plus an obligatory date window at 3 o’clock. Featuring Cartier’s classic faceted, synthetic blue spinel crown; a satin-finish anthracite grey sunray dial; and rhodium-finished, luminescent hands, it’s a handy addition to a collection that’s been around for well over a century.
If you’d prefer a simple time-only variant of the Santos de Cartier, you’ve got a few new options: First, a Medium model (35.1mm) in steel with a matching bracelet or a brown alligator leather strap; a synthetic blue spinel crown; and a beautiful, satin-finished, graduated brown sunray dial with polished, luminescent steel sword hands. Want it in a Large version? It’s available in a 30.8mm case with the same mix of metal/dial — but then there’s also a two-tone version with a steel case, yellow gold dial, and an anthracite grey dial; plus a fully yellow gold version with a brown sunburst dial and either a matching bracelet or a brown leather alligator strap. All versions feature 100m of water resistance, but the Medium versions have no date, whereas the Large versions have a date window at 6 o’clock.
Diameter: 35.1mm (Medium); 39.8mm (Large); 40.2 (Dual Time)
Movement: Cartier 1847 MC (Medium and Large) automatic
Power Reserve: 48 hours (Medium and Large)
Price: US$7,050 (Medium); $7,750; $11,700; $36,600 (Large); $9,150 (Dual Time)
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Cartier Santos Dumont Rewind
Continuing the Santos theme, we’ve got several beautiful new Santos Dumont references on ours hands, the first of which will no doubt blow your mind: The new Rewind, in the collection’s Large size (31.5 mm), is a 200-piece limited edition in platinum with a ruby cabochon crown; a carnelian dial; rhodium-finished, apple-shaped hands; and an inverted set of applied Roman numeral indices that ascend counter-clockwise around the dial. Why? The manually-wound 230 MC movement actually tells the time backwards. Why? Ostensibly, it’s a celebration of Brazilian Santos-Dumont’s pioneering spirit. To us — it’s just dope.
Diameter: 31.5 mm (Large)
Case material: Platinum
Movement: Cartier 230 MC hand-wound (Rewind)
Price: US$34,500
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Cartier Santos Arabic Numeral
If reading a watch dial backwards just isn’t your bag, baby, then feast your eyes on these three handsome models with colored dials and cases. First up is a rose gold version with striking, peacock blue lacquer, a matching dial, and a semi-matte blue alligator leather strap with a rose gold buckle. Next is platinum-cased reference with olive green lacquer on the bezel, plus a matching green sunray dial with applied Arabic indices, sword hands and a green alligator leather strap with a platinum buckle. And lastly, we have a yellow gold version with taupe grey lacquer, a matching, satin-finish grey dial with applied Arabic indices, and a matte grey alligator leather strap with a gold pin buckle. While the green platinum version is limited to 200 pieces, the two gold editions appear to be regular catalog models…for now.
Diameter: 39.8mm (Large)
Movement: Cartier 430 MC
Power Reserve: 43 hours
Price: US$21,900 (Large, Platinum, Green); $15,600 (Large, Rose Gold, Blue); $15,600 (Large, Yellow Gold)
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Reflection de Cartier
Cartier has long been a lover of illusion. Take for instance its highly collectible Mystère clocks where the clock face appears to float within its frame or the groundbreaking Masse Mysterieuse timepiece, where the entire movement, which doubled as a rotor, seemed to spin midair on the wrist. Now the maison is delivering the same trompe l’œil effect on its latest jewelry timepiece, Reflection de Cartier—a diamond-accented open cuff with one tip accented with a timepiece and the other with a mirror, so that the time may be viewed either way you put it on. The “body” of the bracelet is decorated with a combination of snow-set and inverted diamonds. While all of the four iterations of this piece are lust-worthy, the pieces set with multiple precious stones and diamonds, however, including the emerald, chrysoprase, and Paraíba version (pictured) are the ultimate collector pieces of the lot.
Case Material: Rose gold; yellow gold; rhodium-finished white gold with white diamonds; rhodium-finished white gold with chrysoprase, obsidian, emeralds, Paraiba tourmalines and diamonds; rhodium-finished white gold with opal, tiger, amethysts, spessartite garnets, and diamonds.
Movement: Quartz
Price: Price Upon Request
Material: Rhodium-finished white gold with opal, tiger eye, amethysts, spessartite garnets, and diamonds (not pictured); rhodium-finished white gold in chrysoprase, obsidian, emeralds, Paraíba tourmalines, and diamonds; rhodium-finished white gold and diamonds; rose gold
Price: Upon Request
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Cartier-Animals
In a departure from its perennial Panthère motif, the house focused on another creature this season, the crocodile, which wrapped around dials in gem-set splendor. But they didn’t forsake their feline friend which appeared literally perched on top of a multi-colored dial, while others sported zebra-like stripes in a nod to Jeanne Toussaint’s beloved animal themes
Case Material: Rhodium-finished white gold with tourmalines, sapphires, emeralds, and diamonds; rhodium-finished white gold with mother-of-pearl, sapphires, diamonds, and emeralds; rhodium-finished white gold with diamonds and emeralds; rhodium-finished white gold with. rhodolite garnets, spessartite garnets, diamonds, emerald, and onyx; Yellow gold, spessartite garnets, and onyx; Yellow gold, onyx, and diamonds
Movement: quartz
Price: Upon Request
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Chopard Alpine Eagle XL Chronograph
Chanel-Black-and-White
Nobody does updated classics quite like the design teams at CHanel, and the new edition of its Diamond Tourbillon proves it. While the original versions were offered in shiny ceramic, the latest models are rendered in matte black and white styles. This means there’s nothing to compete with the natural brilliance of the diamond solitaire set at the center or the flying tourbillon cage. You might just lose track of time watching it rotate back with the mechanism.
Case Size: 38 mm
Case Material: Ceramic and steel
Power Reserve: 42 hours
Price: TBC
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Chanel Haute Horlogerie Pink Editions
Chanel Bobbin Cuff
Inspired by the various tools Coco Chanel used to make her genre-defining couture garments, these jewelry watches don’t immediately look like they can tell time. The Bobbin Cuff, for example, takes its cues from a spool of thread, and hides its watch underneath a yellow sapphire set in the gold. Three other pieces—a watch, a necklace, and a ring—each resemble pin cushions, albeit ones crafted from gold, diamonds, mother-of-pearl, and onyx.
Material: Yellow gold, diamonds, and yellow diamond
Price: Upon Request
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Chopard L.U.C XPS Forest Green
Vintage-style green dials are making their way into the permanent catalog of many flagship collections these days. Applied to the 40 mm L.U.C XPS and combined with a similarly retro-styled sector dial, the hue transforms what has always been a dress watch into a more sportier affair. The ‘S’ in the XPS acronym refers to the small seconds at 6 o’clock, while the XP stands for extra plat (thin). The case is a mere 7.20 mm thick, and it’s made of Lucent steel, Chopard’s proprietary alloy produced with a recycling rate of at least 80%. The precise divisions of the sector dial include two concentric rings that separate the minutes from the hours, with radial lines running between the inner and outer edges of the rings, creating the “sectors.” The in-house automatic chronometer caliber L.U.C 96.12-L powers this classically styled timepiece.Case Size: 40 mm x 7.20 mm
Case Material: Lucent Steel
Power Reserve: 65 hours
Strap: Brown calfskin with ecru stitching
Price: US$11,800
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Chopard Imperiale
Chopard’s Imperiale collection was launched in 2010 to showcase the company’s in-house metiers capabilities, combined with in-house premium mechanical movements. The dial of the edition is covered with a blue-green enamel background, dotted with a perfectly uniform pattern of white enamel and pink mother-of-pearl marquetry flowers. The center of each white flower is set with an orange padparadscha sapphire and each pink flower with a diamond. The flowers and center gems are surrounded by rims of 18k white gold, raised slightly above the dial. The resulting pattern mimics the quatrefoil floral motif in Venetian architecture, particularly in the Doges Palace. The movement is the Chopard caliber 96.17-C, equipped with a double barrel that delivers a 65-hour power reserve. This Imperiale is only available at Chopard boutiques.
Case Size: 36 mm
Case Material: 18k white gold
Power Reserve: 65 hours
Strap: Blue-green alligator, 18k gold buckle set with diamonds
Price: On request
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Chopard Happy Sport
The Happy Sport’s familiar bezel-set diamonds have been dancing happily between two sapphire crystals since 1993, but over the years this watch has continued to look fresh in its various iterations. This year, two of the five mobile diamonds are replaced by aquamarines in one model and pink tourmalines in the other, though Chopard breezily refers to these colors as “flamboyant pink” and “luminous blue.” Each model has straps, hands and stylized Roman numerals colored to match the gems, and there is also a complimentar gemstone in the crown. The center of the dial is decorated in a swirling guilloché pattern that adds a dressy touch to the sporty style, as does the diamond-set bezel. The Happy Sport contains the in-house automatic caliber 09.01-C. Each color is limited to 250 pieces, for a total of 500.
Case Size: 33 mm x 10.84 mm
Case Material: Lucent Steel
Power Reserve: 42 hours
Strap: Alligator
Price: US$16,900
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Grand Seiko SBGC275 Caliber 9R 20th Anniversary Limited Edition
In celebration of the 20th anniversary of Grand Seiko’s 9R Spring Drive movement — a unique caliber that marries the best of mechanical and battery-powered technology — the Japanese watchmaker is releasing the Sport Collection Caliber 9R 20th Anniversary Limited Edition SBGC275. An edition of 700 pieces, the 44.5mm titanium watch combines GMT functionality with an equally useful chronograph in a sporty but beautifully finished package. Paired to a matching H-link bracelet with a three-fold clasp, it makes for an excellent traveler’s or everyday watch, though its larger dimensions are certainly better suited for bigger wrists.
Grand Seiko SLGH021 Limited Edition
The wide variety of styles available within the Grand Seiko catalog make it an ideal place to shop for an everyday watch — something robust enough to stand up to the rigors of life’s bangs and scratches, but elegant enough to make it through a business lunch or an important event. The new SLGH021 is just such a timepiece: With its 40mm case in Ever-Brilliant Stainless Steel — a highly corrosion-resistant alloy — it’s well poised to survive day-to-day wear. But set within its smooth bezel is a mesmerizingly beautiful dial in a vivid blue-green. Inspired by the Genbi Valley in Iwate Prefecture, it uses an incredible “molded” pattern that deserves to be studied up close.
Meanwhile, within the watch is Grand Seiko’s Calibre 9SA5, an automatic hi-beat caliber that brings together numerous Grand Seiko technologies: Boasting twin barrels, 47 jewels, and the brand’s Dual-Impulse Escapement, it offers 80 hours of power reserve despite an unusually high beat-rate of 36,000 vph. Excellent movement, special stainless steel formula, and beautiful dial aside, the SLGH021, like many Grand Seiko models, makes use of the Zaratsu polishing, which lends everything from the case to the handset a delicate balance of brushed and mirror polished surfaces, much like a samurai’s blade. Limited to 1,000 pieces, this is one release you’ll want to nab fast.
Diameter: 40mm
Movement: Grand Seiko Caliber 9RA5 automatic
Power Reserve: 80 hours
Price: US$10,400
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Grand Seiko SBGW314
Grand Seiko SBGD215
If you like your watch to really knock peoples’ socks off but you also value a horologically impressive movement, then the SBDG215 is the watch for you. (As long as you have $300K to burn on a watch — if you don’t, this is actually not the watch for you. Feel free to window-shop, however.) Housed in a 950 platinum case with sweepingly wide facets, it features an array of baguette-cut sapphires and diamonds set into the case, bezel, and dial. Meant to evoke the most noble of beats sitting atop a snowy mountain, it certainly has the capacity to completely knock your socks off.
Grand Seiko SLGW003 and SLGW002
Back in the 1960s and 1970s, Grand Seiko was already developing and releasing manually-wound, hi-beat calibers that promised increased precision via higher frequencies. During Watches & Wonders, the brand is releasing two new references housing the first new Grand Seiko hand-wound, hi-beat movement in over 50 years. Part of the Caliber 9S family that launched in 2020, the 9SA4 beats 10 times per second while offering a power reserve of 80 hours via a Dual Impulse Escapement and twin barrels. Tested in six positions at three temperatures over 17 days, this is a true modern expression of a classic movement type beloved by collectors for the satisfying interaction between watch and wearer.
Hermès Arceau Chorus Stellarum
Inspired by the Chorus Stellarum silk scarf designed by the Japanese illustrator Daiske Nomura, the new artistic edition of the round-cased Arceau is a cosmic equestrian scene come to life—literally. A pusher at 9 o’clock activates an animation in which the skeleton horse and rider—embodied in mobile yellow gold appliques, engraved and painted by hand—prance around the champlevé enamel dial whose colorful lacquer-coated motifs are adorned with applied rhodium-plated stars. Reminiscent of the automata that captivated royality of the European Enlightenment, the Chorus Stellarum is sure to captivate all who see it in action.
Hermès Duc Attelé
Hermès’s new hand-wound grand complication is a world first that combines a central triple-axis tourbillon and “tuning-fork” minute repeater with a high-frequency Manufacture Hermès H1926 movement. Arguably even more impressive is the unique design of the timepiece, which takes its name, Duc Attelé, from the maison’s defining image: a canopy-top four-wheeled carriage drawn by two horses, itself inspired by a drawing by 19th century French animal painter and master of equestrian art Alfred Dreux.
Hermès Cut
With a case made up of “a circle within a round shape” and a crown positioned at 1 o’clock, the new Hermès Cut collection offers a playful commentary on silhouettes. Featuring concentric, and slightly irregular, shapes as a nod to sculpture and hewn marble, the model boasts subtle details, such as a bevel-cut bezel framing an opaline, silver-toned dial. These details punctuate the Cut’s minimalist design.
Hublot Square Big Bang Unico
In 2022, Hublot introduced the first square Big Bang. The collection marked the first new case design we had seen within the Big Bang family of watches since the tonneau-shaped model released more than a decade prior. The inaugural square collection consisted of five models in an array of materials from ceramic to titanium and King Gold. Now, two years later, we get two new versions of the Square Bang Unico in Magic Gold. The new models retain much of the original design with a square case, a bezel punctuated with the six signature Big Bang screws, and a skeletonized dial. Of course, the major update comes in the form of a new material prominently featured on the bezel of both models: Hublot’s patented Magic Gold, the first and only 18-karat gold alloy in the world to claim complete scratch resistance.
Big Bang Unico Ceramic 42 mm
Though there’s some debate about which firm created the first ceramic watch, the material didn’t begin growing in popularity in watchmaking until the new millennium. Hublot has long been at the forefront of experimentation with cutting-edge materials, so it comes as no surprise that ceramic quickly became a part of the brand’s repertoire in collections like its beloved Big Bang. In early iterations, we saw classic black and white color schemes, but over the years Hublot has grown bold with its use of color. We’ve seen blue, gray, red, yellow, and now orange and green.
Hublot Big Bang E Gen 3
Hublot was the first watch brand to team up with the sport of football (soccer for those in the US) back in 2006. Since then, its work has taken many forms as the official timekeeper of major competitions and the official watch of prestigious clubs. Then, in 2018, the brand notched another first by developing a special connected edition of its Big Bang E optimized specifically for referees to use on the field. As an extension, Hublot also created a version of the Big Bang E for fans that provides play by play updates on the action, and it can be customized with their team’s colors. This summer, the final phase of the UEFA European Football Championship will take place in Germany. In celebration, Hublot has unveiled a new generation of its Big Bang E Gen 3. The brand first debuted the model in 2022 in conjunction with the FIFA World Cup in Qatar. This updated version will allow its wearer to follow the final phase of the next UEFA 2024 European Championship in real time as 24 teams battle for the win, including France led by Hublot ambassador Kylian Mbappé.
IWC Portugieser Eternal Calendar
Perpetual? So yesterday! The future – when it comes to mechanical complications which accommodate the quirks of the Gregorian calendar – is eternal. Or so one might have concluded, listening to IWC (and, via a pre-recorded video, British celebrity physicist Brian Cox) present the hero piece of their new novelties, at a pre-Watches & Wonders reveal event in Zurich back in March (which Robb Report attended).
IWC Portugieser Perpetual Calendar 44
For all their dabbling with the eternal, IWC were never going to neglect a complication first patented in wristwatch form by Patek Philippe in 1889 (IWC’s own in-house iteration, consisting of less than 100 arranged parts, was developed in the 1980s by former head watchmaker Kurt Klaus). The four new versions here – two in 18-carat white gold with Horizon Blue and Dune dials, two in 18-carat Armor Gold with Obsidian or Silver Moon dial – have a renewed aesthetic thanks to refined case construction, a slender case ring, and the use of double box-glass sapphire crystals.
IWC Portugieser Hand Wound Tourbillon Day & Night
An anachronistic indulgence modern Tourbillons may well be, but the aesthetics of this new addition to the Portugieser canon could not be more contemporary, thanks to how an 18-carat Armor Gold case interacts visually with an Obsidian lacquered dial, gold-plated hands and gold appliques.
IWC Portugieser Chronograph
A huge amount of R&D has gone into the dial colors in all the new Portugiesers unveiled (Horizon Blue, Obsidian, and Dune, to capture the atmospheres of different times of day and night, in the case of the Chronograph), according to Grainger-Herr. “Dial color is one of the most subjective and difficult sciences out there,” he tells Robb Report.
IWC Portugieser Automatic 42 & 40
The new additions to the Portugieser Automatic 42 and 40 lines – which have a re-engineered case construction and a more slender side profile – are, IWC CEO Grainger-Herr says, a perfect example of designers nailing the “evolution not revolution” approach: a philosophy whereby the horological world ensures a steady, consistent trickle of surprise factor.
Jaeger-LeCoultre Duometer Chronograph Moon
The Duometre Chronograph Moon combines two contrasting complications – a speed-tracking chronograph with 1/6-of-a-second readings, plus the slow march of a 29.53-day moon cycle. Jaeger developed a new movement for the piece, caliber 391, and you can see some of it through the partially openworked dial at 5 and 7 o’clock. Jaeger-LeCoultre claims these openings are not just for aesthetic effect, but also make it easier for the watchmakers to assemble the movement. Dual barrels are wound by a single crown: forwards for the mainspring that provides power for the timekeeping function and backwards for the second mainspring that powers the complications. This timepiece is offered in platinum with a copper-colored dial and in pink gold with a silver dial.
Jaeger-LeCoultre Duometre Quantieme Lunaire in Stainless Steel
The Duometre Quantieme Lunaire was introduced in 2007 when the Duometre system debuted. But this is the first time it, or any other Duometre complication, has been offered in stainless steel. Combined with a monotone blue dial that is not, like its predecessor, openworked at 5 and 7 o’clock, this watch casts very different vibe than the original 18k gold model. The steel/blue Quantieme Lunaire sportier, but remains clean and classic, despite conveying a lot of information: two power reserve indicators for each barrel, a fast-moving foudroyante seconds subdial that tracks 1/6 of a second, as well as the hours, minutes, seconds, date and moon phase. A complication like this cased in steel is a collector’s dream, and although it is not a limited edition, demand will be high and quantities likely scarce.
Jaeger-LeCoultre Duometre Heliotourbillon Perpetual
The Duometre Heliotourbillon Perpetual unites Jaeger-LeCoultre’s groundbreaking work in multi-axis tourbillons with the Duometre concept. A triple-axis tourbillon consumes a lot of power, so pairing it with the Duometre’s double power source concept makes perfect horological sense. The tourbillon in the new caliber 388 sets three concentric rotating cages into a dazzling display of watchmaking’s oldest attempt to defy gravity. The first cage is set at a 90-degree angle to the balance wheel, the second at 90 degrees to the first cage, and the third is at 90 degrees to the second cage. The first two cages rotate together every 30 seconds, and the third every 60 seconds. The tourbillon is built with 163 components and weighs 0.7 grams, which tells you three things: the components are very small, tolerances are incredibly tight, and, because the cages are titanium, it’s especially resistant to gravitational forces. For good measure, the caliber 388 also incorporates a perpetual calendar with a large date display, and it still maintains a 50-hour power reserve for both barrels. The caseback puts on a show of its own with sunrayed Geneva stripes (a.k.a. Côtes de Genève soleillées) radiating seamlessly across the entire expanse of the adjacent bridges.
Laurent Ferrier Classic Moon
There are brands — Bvlgari comes to mind — that are wildly adept at taking a classical complication and reimagining it for a modern audience by totally revamping its architecture and aesthetic. Then there are brands that simply reissue vintage references in a nearly one-for-one manner. Laurent Ferrier arguably takes the most difficult route: The ex-technical director for Patek Philippe, sometimes-race car driver (he finished 3rd in Le Mans in 1979, just behind Paul Newman) and first-rate watchmaker designs watches that would be intimately familiar to someone time traveling to 2024 from 1954, but that include just enough modern spin to render them utterly fresh. This is not easy to do.
Montblanc 1858 Unveiled Minerva Monopusher Chronograph
Montblanc’s watchmaking artistry is on full display in the new 1858 Unveiled Minerva Monopusher Chronograph, but rather than featuring a skeletonized movement, the watch’s new monopusher chronograph Calibre MB M17.26 has been flipped so the display appears on the dial side. That’s not the only detail designed to appeal to devotees of mechanical watchmaking. Five apertures appear in the case band of the new limited edition, allowing light to flood into the hand-finished manually wound movement’s 291 components.
Montblanc Iced Sea 0 Oxy Deep
How deep can the new Iced Sea 0 Oxygen Deep go? The watch is guaranteed to be water-resistant to approximately 481 bar (about 4,810 meters, or 15,781 feet, the inverse of the height of Mont-Blanc, the mountain for which the brand is named). That’s another way of saying the model is designed for serious explorers of the deep. This overbuilt diver belongs to the maison’s “Zero Oxygen” series, referring to timepieces whose cases have been engineered to ensure the absence of oxygen, thereby eliminating fogging and oxidization under extreme pressure and at extreme temperatures.
Montblanc Iced Sea Automatic Date Bronze
In 2022, Montblanc introduced a range of watches called Iced Sea, featuring dials created by a special technique designed to mimic the glacial ice on the Mont-Blanc massif. The collection expands this year with the introduction of a new bronze-toned edition encased in cupro aluminum, a special alloy of aluminum and copper that’s highly resistant to corrosion and rust yet will still obtain a patina over time.
Moser Streamliner Tourbillon Skeleton 40 mm
Panerai Sumbersible Tourbillon GMT Luna Rossa Experience Edition
If Abraham-Louis Breguet, inventor of the tourbillon, were to get a load of this watch, the poor guy would probably have a heart attack. The Submersible Tourbillon GMT Luna Rossa Experience Edition is a tourbillon-equipped diver, constructed from black Carbotech, water resistant to 300m, and the purchase includes a trip to Barcelona to hang behind-the-scenes at the America’s Cup. (To be fair, at $176,500, the thing should pretty much do my taxes for me, too.) This is not exactly the intended use case for Breguet’s original tourbillon, but that’s what makes this watch so darn cool.
Panerai Submersible GMT Luna Rossa Titanio
If you like the idea of proudly sporting Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli colors but want something more complicated than a standard diver and less involved than a tourbillon-equipped watch, then the Submersible GMT Luna Rossa Titanio is just the ticket. Made from titanium and measuring 42mm, this model is smaller and more wearable than its cousins, but it still offers a useful GMT function — perfect for the traveler on the go or parked at a seaside resort.
Panerai Submersible QuarantaQuattro Luna Rossa Ti-Ceramitech
In accordance with the norms of today’s watch industry, the new Panerai Submersible QuarantaQuattro Luna Rossa Ti-Ceramitech will likely cause you to forget which watch you walked into the boutique to purchase because its name is so darn long. Let’s break this one down: It’s part of the Submersible line, meaning it’s a hard-wearing dive watch water-resistant to, in this case, 500m. “Quarranta-Quattro” is for 44, its width in mm. (Panerai is an Italian-founded marque, after all.) “Luna Rossa” is for the Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli sailing team, which is set to compete in the America’s Cup in Barcelona later this year. And “Ti-Ceramitech” is for a brand new, high-tech ceramicized titanium that took Panerai seven years to develop and patent.
Parmigiani Tonda PF Skeleton Platinum Blue
The skeletons are out of the closet this year at Watches & Wonders, and Parmigiani’s Tonda PF Skeleton Platinum Blue is among the most expensive and impressive of them all. Made from high-grade platinum 950 and sporting a deep “Milano” blue skeletonized dial, this watch exudes a commanding presence, but without overstating itself. The caliber PF777 is an in-house works with self-winding rotor made from 187 parts and offering 60 hours of power on tap. Add in the 100 meters of water resistance and a sleek 8.3 mm case height, and it’s easy to see how this watch could serve as an ideal high-end, go-everywhere, do-anything timepiece.
Parmigiani Fleurier Tonda PF Micro-Rotor
Minimalists, this one’s for you. The 2024 edition of the Tonda PF Micro-Rotor, introduced in 2021, lacks a date feature, or any superfluous aesthetic details. “Every element of this timepiece reflects our vision of discreet and timeless refinement,” says CEO Guido Terreni. “From the deliberate absence of visual complications to the meticulous selection of ‘Golden Siena’ dial nuances, each choice is guided by an unwavering commitment to aesthetic purity.”
Parmigiani Fleurier Toric Petite Seconde & Chronograph
Piaget Altiplano Ultimate Concept Tourbillon 150th Anniversary
A tourbillon is a suspended balance-wheel system that rotates in order to distribute the effects of gravity and improve isochronism. So how did Piaget get a tourbillon into a watch that measures exactly 2 mm thick? Once again pushing the boundaries of thinness, Piaget uses a peripheral tourbillon, meaning that a wheel meshes with the edge of the cage in order to rotate it. Requiring 25% more power than a movement without a tourbillon, Piaget has developed a skeletonized ultra-thin mainspring that stores 40 hours of power while still beating at a modern 28,800 vibrations per hour. As if that weren’t enough to pack into this miniscule case, the Altiplano Ultimate Concept Tourbillon also offers up 20 meters of water resistance. Not exactly a dive watch, but incredibly robust for a 2mm tall watch. A deep blue cobalt alloy contrasts with gold accents for a sophisticated yet sporty visage.
Piaget Polo 36 and 42 mm on Rubber Straps
Piaget is celebrating not only its 150th anniversary but also the 45th anniversary of the flagship Polo collection. Festivities began earlier this year with the launch of the weighty, all-gold Polo 79 – with an equally weighty price tag ($73,000). Now Piaget is following up with a duo of Polo Date watches that are more accessible in terms of price, though limited to only 300 pieces each. One is a 42 mm model with a brown strap, and the other is a 36 mm version on a beige rubber strap with a bezel containing 91 brilliant-cut diamonds. Piaget doesn’t specify the gender of the 36 mm piece and is in fact careful to imply its gender-neutrality: “The most precious model can be worn by both women and men, with this versatility being standard practice in the world today.” But the brand also notes that the duo of Polos pays homage to the idea of “his and her” watches, popular in the early ’80s. Yves Piaget, great-grandson of the founder, was fond of the his-&-hers concept and applied it to the Piaget Polo. On both models, rose gold-colored hands brighten the steel case, with the second hand’s counter weight bearing the inscription “150.” This is the first time the 36mm model wears a rubber strap. These watches are available only at Piaget boutiques.
TAG Heuer Monaco Split-Seconds Chronograph
The legacy of TAG Heuer’s split-seconds chrono dates back over a century. Since the early 1900s, the brand has proven itself as a premier developer of stopwatches and dashboard timers for prestigious institutions like the Olympic Games and Ferrari. Alongside these technical developments, Heuer was responsible for creating one of the most instantly recognizable square watch designs: the Monaco. The year 2024 marks the monumental 55th anniversary of the Monaco, and in celebration TAG has unveiled a watch that’s emblematic of its technical prowess and aesthetic codes. Here, we have the iconic square design rendered in lightweight grade 5 titanium weighing just 85 grams in red and blue colorways. In addition, the new Monaco Split-Seconds Chronograph houses a brand new movement: the TH81-00 mechanical split-seconds chronograph caliber.
TAG Heuer Skipper in Rose Gold
One of the most exciting releases of 2023 was the return of the legendary Skipper to TAG Heuer’s catalog. The original debuted in 1968, drawing inspiration from chronographs provided by Heuer for a team competing in the 1967 America’s Cup. The Reference 7754 notably combined a sea-blue dial with two sharply contrasting sub-dials—a 12-hour counter in ‘Intrepid Teal’ and a 15-minute regatta counter divided into three, five–minute segments of different colors: Lagoon Green (inspired by Intrepid’s rigging); Intrepid Teal (the color of her deck) and, for the final five-minute ‘get ready’ sector, Regatta Orange—orange originally being adopted by the sailors because it contrasts with the sea. The Skipper disappeared from Heuer’s lineup in 1983 just ahead of Heuer’s acquisition by Techniques d’Avant Garde (TAG). In 2017, Hodinkee issued a limited edition interpretation to great acclaim. Noting that success, in 2023 TAG Heuer reprised the Skipper in the new Carrera Glassbox design. A year later, we get the Glassbox version in rose gold. Ahoy!
TAG Heuer SN Chronograph
In 2023, the beloved Carrera notched its 60th anniversary, perpetuating decades of TAG Heuer’s noted expertise in chronograph development. The Carrera was the brainchild of the legendary Jack Heuer. Inspired by the famous border-to-border race called the Carrera Panamericana and first launched in 1963, the Carrera has seen many significant iterations over the years. The 7754 SN from the late 1960s served as the inspiration for this new Carrera Chronograph. The 7753 SN—standing for silver and noir—notably featured a panda design with a silver dial and black registers. In addition, the reference was marked by improvements in legibility, from the design of the hour markers and hands to the addition of double stops at 12 so it was clear when the chronograph was zeroed. For the modern interpretation, TAG has adapted these principles into its innovative Glassbox construction, which imitates a vintage crystal but feels entirely modern, too. Notably, this watch includes a stainless steel bracelet for the first time.
TAG Heuer Carrera Date 36mm
We know the Carrera as a sport watch. Yet, more and more, the lines are blurring within the category, and new Carreras are towing the line between retaining their sporty roots and upping the ante on elegance with gems and precious metals. TAG Heuer shows us its approach to this more modernized sport watch with three iterations of the Carrera that bring a sophisticated edge to the collection. The new 36 mm Carrera Date offers highly accessible sizing, reprising the proportions of the original model from 1963. It’s available in both two-tone and stainless steel versions. For the two-tone versions, we get a combination of stainless steel and rose gold with the option of a mother of pearl dial and diamond-set bezel and indices or a salmon-adjacent copper dial that echoes the warm hue of the rose gold. The classic steel variant also gets a mother of pearl dial as well as a diamond-set flange and rose gold hands and indices.
Ulysse Nardin Freak S Nomad
The Freak, released in 2001, was a watch ahead of its time. Doing away with a conventional dial, hands, and crown, The Freak instead proposed a new system built around a one-hour, orbiting carousel containing parts of the automatic movement — a movement that, in a watch-industry first, featured a silicon escapement. Now, Ulysse Nardin is continuing the Freak’s history of innovation with the Freak S Nomad, a sand-colored riff on the famously futuristic watch. Within the 45mm titanium and carbon fiber case sits a dial showing off its unique complication. A diamond guilloché decoration adorns the rotating hour disc, which has received a sand-colored OVT coating. This decoration is painstakingly applied by hand using an 18th-century rose engine over the course of three hours without break, and without the use of electronics or computers. As a result, each of the 99 limited-edition watches is unique.
Vacheron Constantin Traditionelle Chronograph Tourbillon Collection Excellence Platine
Platinum Excellence is a capsule collection, produced occasionally and only in limited editions, always in platinum, including the dial, crown, pushers and buckle. Even the stitches of the leather strap are a mix of silk and platinum. The platinum version of the Chrono Tourbillon, which was first unveiled in 2020 with a movement launched in 2015, is limited to 50 pieces. Vacheron often locates its traditional complications in untraditional positions, and on this model the tourbillon is at 12 o’clock, rather than the usual 6 o’clock position. It’s also a monopoussoir chronograph, with a subtle 45-minute totalizer at 3 o’clock. As you would expect with a premium platinum complication limited edition, the movement is meticulously hand finished, with circular graining, Vacheron’s exceptional plate and bridge chamfering, lush Geneva stripes, hand-beveling of both interior and exterior angles, and mirror polish on the upper tourbillon bridge. Each movement requires 11 hours of hand decoration.
Vacheron Constantin Overseas Tourbillon Titanium
Vacheron, being a classic watchmaker, has made very few titanium-cased watches. The first titanium cases appeared on two limited-edition Overseas Everest watches in 2021 in honor of ambassador Cory Richards, a photographer and mountaineer (he wore a titanium prototype on a 2019 expedition). In 2022, Vacheron applied titanium to the Overseas Tourbillon in a skeletonized version. This year’s offering cases a new Overseas Tourbillon with a closed dial. The watch is made entirely of titanium, including case, bracelet, bezel and crown, which makes the watch lightweight despite the size (42.5 mm x 10.39 mm). The dial is lacquered in the collection’s signature brilliant blue, and it comes with two extra straps – calfskin or rubber – also in blue. The ingenious quick-release system makes swapping bracelets a breeze. For good measure, the white gold hands and hour makers are highlighted in blue Super-LumiNova. The movement, automatic caliber 2160, has an 80-hour power reserve, using a peripheral rotor made of 22k gold, which can be seen through the sapphire caseback. This is a boutique-only piece.
Vacheron Constantin Overseas – Pink Gold, Green Dial
Vacheron Constantin is latching onto the green this year, not just with new olive green straps on its Patrimony collection, but also on the dials of four new models in the Overseas collection. All have lacquered green dials with solid pink gold cases and bracelets. The color combination is a knockout, and a nice change from seeing green dials on only steel or white gold watches. As Vacheron’s style & heritage director Christian Selmoni said in a presentation about the new all-green look, “It could well be that this new color will become as iconic as blue within the collection.” There are three models, one of them in two different sizes: the Chronograph is 42mm; the Dual Time is 41 mm; and the Self-winding with Date comes in a 41 mm men’s model and a 35 mm ladies’ model with a diamond bezel. For added drama, the solid gold bracelet can be removed and replaced with matching green calfskin or rubber straps.
Vacheron Constantin Patrimony Manual-Wind
The Patrimony, Vacheron’s flagship dress watch, is shrinking down slightly this year, and collectors with smaller wrists (women) are celebrating. The Patrimony, introduced in 2004, was inspired by Vacheron’s minimalist dress watches of the 1940s and 1950s, and it has always been slim and embellishment-free. The new one is 39 mm, just a millimeter smaller than the next size up, and it is only 7.7 mm thick. It also sports a new dial in sunburst antique silver, and, best of all, two bold new strap colors – azure blue paired with a pink gold case and olive green for the white gold case. These subtle changes transform the Patrimony into one of the best gender neutral watches out there. It’s the perfect size with just the right infusion of color, and the straps are fashion-forward without being strictly feminine. The caseback is closed, as a vintage watch’s would be, and Vacheron leaves it unmarked to make way for personalized engraving.
Vacheron Constantin Patrimony Moon Phase Retrograde Date
Last year, this combination of complications was delivered with a salmon dial, and sold out quickly. Now it bears a more neutral shade, the same new sunburst antique silver that appears on the new time-only Patrimony. It comes on an olive green alligator strap as well, paired with an 18k white gold case. The dial is subtle and minimalist, in the Patrimony tradition, with 18k gold pearl minute markers (48 altogether), slim hands and stretched out hash marks on the lower half of the dial.
Vacheron Constantin Egerie Concept – The Pleats of Time
This concept watch falls into that rare, whimsical watchmaking genre known as “just because.” It combines haute horlogerie with haute couture and haute parfumerie … yes, perfume. In what has to be a “first” in watchmaking, the Egerie Pleats of Time features a strap fitted with specially developed nano-capsules that release a scent, randomly, as the wearer moves. It’s a collaboration between Vacheron, Paris couture fashion designer Yiqing Yin and French perfumer Dominique Ropion. The dial is lilac-colored mother-of-pearl, carved in a pleated shape like a dress skirt. Shards of mother-of-pearl are woven into the strap alongside the perfume capsules. The bezel and subdial ring for the moon phase are set with diamonds. The watch is concept-only, and not for sale.
Vacheron Constantin Egerie Moonphase
The Egerie Moon Phase was also designed in collaboration with Yiqing Yin, but this one will actually go into production. It comes with three interchangeable straps in shades developed by the designer: Lilac alligator; night-blue satin-effect calfskin; and powder-pink calfskin. The dial is designed according to a distinctive symmetry: the crown and moon phase align at the one o’clock position, forming a subtle diagonal line that ends with the subdued Vacheron Constantin logo between 7 and 9 o’clock. The index is composed of individually hand-applied fine gold pearls just inside the edge of the pleated mother-of-pearl. The Egerie Moonphase is set with a total of 1.10 carats of diamonds, and limited to 100 pieces.
Zenith Defy Extreme Diver
It’s been argued that Zenith’s octagonal Defy sport watches of 1969 were the real genesis of the celebrated integrated bracelet watch. Indeed, the also-octagonal Audemars Piguet Royal Oak didn’t appear until 1972. Origin stories aside, today’s Defy Extreme Diver is an ultra tough titanium diver with an integrated bracelet, or, if you prefer rubber or fabric straps, you can use the quick-change system to swap them out.
Zenith Defy Skyline Chronograph
Realistically, it was only a matter of time before Zenith outfitted its newer Defy Skyline collection with a chronograph — and, more importantly, its storied high-beat, automatic chronograph movement, the El Primero. Available in three dial colors, the new Defy Skyline Chronograph will debut in a 42 mm stainless steel case with the collection’s well-known octagonal bezel, a matching integrated stainless steel bracelet (with an additional rubber strap included), and 100m of water resistance. A blue, silver, or black sunray dial houses a triple-register chronograph offering elapsed seconds, minutes, and running seconds, while the central seconds hand zooms around the dial every six seconds ready to stop and mark time withing 1/10th of a second. This feat of precision is possible due to the maison’s El Primero Calibre 36000 movement beating at 5 Hz.
Zenith Defy Revival
This fun and funky 37 mm octagonal watch from Zenith harkens straight back to the late 1960s, when Zenith introduced the youthful Defy series. Zenith has been treating us with various iterations of this watch over the past few years, but this may be the most fun the Swiss brand has had yet with the format. Key features here are a rotating timing bezel, boldly legible hands with funky-yet-functional shapes, Zenith’s signature date window at 4:30 and – obviously – the bright orange colorway. Add in the impressive 600 meters of water resistance, the stainless steel bracelet, as well as the in-house Elite caliber 670 auto-winding movement, and this mid-sized retro watch turns out to be a monster of a modern diver in disguise.
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A Gucci Garden Blooms in Sydney
On a rainy Sydney night, the drinks talent from Maybe Sammy mixed with guest bartenders from Giardino 25 in Florence, for a night of liquid magic.
Since hanging out its shingle in 2022, Giardino 25, the all-day café and bar located in Gucci’s palatial, multidisciplinary space in Florence, has been a boon to stylish tipplers. Taking inspiration from one of its previous tenants (a longstanding florist), the garden-themed joint (Giardino is the Italian word for garden) serves delicious aperitivi and dangerously addictive cocktails.
Giardino 25 took bloom this past Tuesday at a pop-up at El Primo Sanchez in Paddington. The Maybe Cocktail Festival in Sydney is a series of 20 events scattered throughout the city curated by the award-winning Sammy’s Cocktails team. The festival aims to spur knowledge-sharing and foster excellence in Australia’s drinks scene.
“Last year we held 16 events and they were all packed,” says Stefano Catino, director of hospitality at Public, the management company behind Maybe Sammy venues and bottled drinks, “so this year we’ve curated extra events and flown out even more international bars and bartenders.”
“Nineteen of the 21 events are free to attend, which is very important to us,” he continues. “The cost of living is high, and it’s very expensive for Australians to travel overseas, so this festival allows people to drink cocktails from an amazing bar in Rome or try a Tommy’s Margarita from the gentleman who created it without the cost of a plane ticket.”
Dressed head to toe in Gucci, and using the bar as her personal catwalk, Giardino 25’s special guest, Martina Bonci, looked every bit the star behind the bar. “We have brought our mix of classic Italian influences and innovation,” she told Robb Report, “so guests in Australia get a little slice of what we do in Florence.”
Among her tantalising pours were powerful dirty martinis decorated with shimmering gold leaf and Aurora, a transparent twist on the Negroni.
Reflecting on her whirlwind trip down under, Bonci said their visit to Bondi Beach and the cocktails at Maybe Sammy were the highlights.
“The bartenders at Maybe Sammy are world-class,” she explained. “There is a good reason they win awards and have a respected reputation overseas. And El Primo Sanchez has such a fun atmosphere—we had a great night.”
Bonci, who came to prominence in a long string at Milanese hipster joint Gesto and is known for her use of agave, favors drinks dripping with seasonal fruits and citrus flavors. Having tried her creations, we do, too.
She made a serious impression on Sydneysiders, who would do well to make a pilgrimage to see her in action on home turf. As if any of us need another reason to visit Italy.
The Maybe Cocktail Festival, continues this weekend in Sydney, with the public welcome to attend a Bartenders Brunch at Sydney’s Alpha on Sunday from 11.00 am – 3.00 pm, hosted by George Calombaris.
View the program: Maybe Cocktail Festival @maybe_cocktail_fetsival
All images courtesy of Gucci.
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Patek Philippe Brings Back Collector Favourites at Watches & Wonders 2024
Both the Nautilus Chronograph and Aquanaut Travel Time receive a welcome return.
If you’re a watch fan, there’s every reason to believe that a Patek Philippe Nautilus, Patek Philippe Aquanaut—or both—would be high on your wish list. Both collections are of historical significance, helping pave the way for the influence of the steel sports watch category—and subsequent chokehold on the market today.
So, when Patek Philippe unveiled its newest releases at Watches & Wonders in Geneva, it was a pleasant surprise to see the return of two of the best past iterations of the Nautilus and Aquanaut collections.
First, we get a new Nautilus Chronograph, with the return of the revered 5980, now replete with a new case in white gold and a denim-like strap (a contentious issue among watch pundits). Discontinuing all Nautilus 5980 models earlier this year, including the collector-favourite 5980/1AR in Rose Gold, left a sombre feeling among Nautilus fanatics. These celebrated chronographs, renowned for their distinctive porthole-inspired design and air of sporty elegance, are some of the most sought-after watches in the Patek Philippe catalogue. Thus, the revival of the 5980, now in white gold, is a cause for collectors’ celebration.
The new offering retains its chronograph function with mono-counter tracking 60-minute and 12-hour counter at 6 o’clock on the dial, but now comes on a new denim-inspired, hand-stitched fabric strap with a Nautilus fold-over clasp in white gold—some will love it, some won’t.
The Calibre CH 28‑520 C/522 powers this new Nautilus with its flyback chronograph, all of which is visible through the transparent sapphire crystal caseback. The dial is also incredibly eye-catching, with a beautiful opaline blue-gray hue accentuated by white gold-applied hour markers with a white luminescent coating. It is priced at approximately $112,000.
Also returning to the fold is the Patek Philippe Aquanaut Travel Time, now with its own bluish hue dial—similar to its Nautilus counterpart. After discontinuing the Aquanaut Travel Time 5164A this year, as well—a watch often regarded as the greatest Aquanaut to date—Patek Philippe surprised all with the new 5164G in white gold. Its greatest attribution is the clever Travel Time GMT function, which clearly rivals the Rolex GMT-Master II as perhaps the travel-friendly watch of choice (if acquiring one was that simple, of course).
For those who prefer the Aquanaut’s sportiness and easy-wearing rubber strap, this newest iteration, with its Opaline Blue-gray dial and matching rubber strap with a deployant clasp, is undoubtedly an icon in the making. The new 5164G has a 40mm case and features the Calibre 26‑330 S C FUS movement, which can also be viewed via the transparent sapphire crystal caseback.
Expect to pick up the new Aquanaut Travel Time for around $95,250.
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Follow @robbreportau for all your Watches & Wonders coverage, and more!
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13/04/2024
Rolex Kicks Off Watches & Wonders 2024 with a New GMT-Master II
The new stainless steel GMT-Master II has already been dubbed the “Bruce Wayne”.
It may not be the GMT that watch pundits were speculating on—or that collectors were hoping for—but the new Rolex GMT-Master II with a new grey and black ceramic bezel adds dazzle to the revered Rolex collection, which this year celebrates its 70th anniversary.
The idea of a new Rolex GMT launching at the world’s biggest watch fair is cause for a little madness. While the watch community eagerly awaited what was thought to be the discontinuation of the highly sought-after GMT “Pepsi” and the return of the GMT “Coke,” the luxury Swiss watchmaker had other plans.
Instead, we’re presented with a piece that, on paper, hasn’t changed much from previous GMT releases. That’s not to say that this isn’t an impressive release that will speak to consumers—the new GMT-Master II ref.126710GRNR, dubbed the “Bruce Wayne,” is definitely a sight for sore eyes.
This new GMT retains the same dimensions and movement as the other watches in the GMT collection, along with its 40mm size case and the option to fit either an Oyster or Jubilee bracelet. The obvious changes, albeit subtle, come in the way of its mostly monochrome return; a fact that will appease traditionalists. If you’re opposed to the attention-drawing “Pepsi”, “Sprite”, or “Batman” iterations, this model is a stealthier pick—much like pseudonymous Bruce Wayne.
The other noticeable change is the “GMT-Master II” now applied in green text and a 24-hour hand in green; perhaps a nod to the 2007 Basel World GMT release.
Like many Rolex timepieces, this will generate great hype and attention, so don’t expect allocations to come easily.
Model: GMT-Master II
Reference Number: 126710GRNR
Diameter: 40mm
Case Material: Stainless steel
Dial Colour: Black
Lume: Chromalight on hands and hour markers
Water Resistance: 100m
Bracelet: Oyster or Jubilee
Movement: Caliber 3285
Functions: Hours, minutes, seconds, date, GMT
Power Reserve: 70 hours
Winding: Automatic
Price: $17,150 (Oyster); $17,500 (Jubilee)
Availability: Now. Non-limited edition
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13/04/2024
